burke: Gatecrasher #31

winter comes
gatecrashing summer

the bigger birds - magpies, corollas,
mynahs and black birds - fly
into hiding

tiny brown fists of feathers
fly like wind-blown fans
across the grass and
into wet bushes

the Chinese lantern tree
goes to black

beneath the camellia bush
where I buried
the maggot-infested body
of the crested dove
a new plant grows
its bright green leaves
drinking rain